NDTA Members’ Support of USTRANSCOM

My Vision of Our Shared Future By Gen Darren W. McDew, USAF Commander, United States Transportation Command

United States Transportation Command and our government and commercial partners deliver on behalf of the Nation, and I am incredibly proud of all we have accomplished together in the command’s almost 30-year history. Our enduring partnership represents a significant strategic advantage for our Country. I often describe all the daily, complex activities we do in two basic ways. First, we have the ability to deliver an immediate force tonight through our airlift and aerial refueling capabilities. Together, they serve as both a worldwide deterrent and an immediate response to hostilities and natural disasters. The second is our ability to deliver our Nation’s decisive force when needed. Here, our organic and commercial sealift fleets combine to enable an overwhelming response to any global threat. While many intuitively understand the need for boots on the ground to win wars, few realize sealift delivers the bulk of our war-winning capabilities.

In both the case of a decisive force via sea and an immediate force by air, we enjoy the great fortune of a strong transportation base upon which these capabilities spring forth. It would serve us well not to underestimate the importance or overestimate the resilience of that base. We simply cannot rest on the many successes we have had up until now. In the last 15 years, we have become accustomed to geographically-isolated conflicts, while benefitting from distinct technological superiority. We have learned many lessons from these conflicts, not all of which will be helpful and some may actually be harmful to our ability to conduct future operations.

You see, we have enjoyed moving our people and assets to and from these conflicts with impunity and relative security. However, we should expect future conflicts to cross regional boundaries and have contested strategic lines of communication, which brings the real possibility we will experience attrition, something we have not accounted for since World War II. Additionally, likely adversaries will field numerically superior forces with technological capabilities approaching our own.

I’m also concerned that we have instilled in our up-and-coming leaders a particular style of command and control, which uniquely limits their decision-making authorities. This style of centralized decision making simply will not be compatible with the cyber-contested, dynamic nature of future conflicts.

If that future operating environment isn’t complicated enough, the emerging business environment exacerbates many of those challenges. We are already facing the challenges of a shifting global workforce across much of the transportation base, with pilots, mariners, and truck drivers all in short supply, for a multitude of reasons. Mariners are a particularly critical resource as we’re losing the mariner base that our Nation has enjoyed for so long. This, compounded by the maritime industry moving away from steam in the next three years, and our Ready Reserve Fleet comprised of 43 percent steam vessels, presents real challenges to our ability to deploy. Emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles may bring relief to some of those shortages, but also stand to create new and different workforce challenges for all of us. At the same time, advanced-manufacturing technologies, along with autonomous and remote systems, might represent a fundamental disruption in transportation altogether. In such a world, cybersecurity becomes all the more important. The unfortunate reality, however, is cybersecurity is already undervalued and underappreciated.

Consider the fact that our commercial partners account for about half of our wartime movement capability. Because of this, any one of their cyber vulnerabilities becomes a weakness for all of us. In fact, our commercial partners are a key national security asset, just one that too often goes unnoticed. We need to correct that, and we also need to recognize the connection between us runs both ways.

Those risks to our commercial transportation partners require good communication and trust between us so we can share threat and vulnerability information without hesitation. While we are working from

an amazing foundation, the world we see on the horizon will demand even greater trust and transparency. We must find ways to get beyond our natural hesitations to en sure we stay relevant in the future together. With those challenges in mind, I am focused on evolving the United States Transportation Command in ways that ensure we are able to answer the Nation’s call today, while simultaneously preparing for the future. In that evolution, we will need to work together to advocate for tomorrow’s capabilities, extend mission assurance through the cyber domain, and address the fundamental changes happening in our Nation’s workforce.

Just as I advocate for the systems, people, and processes that will make us effective militarily, we need those same evolutions in our commercial systems. We need to develop a mindset that naturally leans toward ensuring we can accomplish what the Nation has entrusted us with, regardless of our public or private status.

In large part, developing that mindset depends on identifying today the leaders of tomorrow. I am humbled by General George C. Marshall’s ability to use the lean budgetary Interwar Period for rehearsals, exercises and wargames. Those preparations had two key effects: they highlighted operational challenges and they identified future leaders. We must do the same thing both in commerce and in the military. We need to proactively explore and experiment with what we see on the horizon, and identify those gamechanging technologies and use them to our collective advantage rather than waiting only to scramble in response to them. We also must identify those young leaders who think differently and are not limited by the standard ways of doing business. Marshall identified the likes of Eisenhower, Patton, McNair, and Bradley. Whom have we identified for the future C-suite…the future E-ring?

We know the next 15 years will look different from the last 15 years. What will we do with that knowledge? Will we build on the solid foundation of our National Defense Transportation Association relationship and get after the challenges of tomorrow today? Will we find ways to challenge our thinking and norms and identify the people, technology, and processes that will deliver success in the future? I know we can, as Together, We Deliver!

NDTA Members’ Support of USTRANSCOM By William J. Kenwell Vice Chairman, NDTA & Chairman, Industry Committee

The theme of this year’s Fall Meeting suggests there are many ways in which we as individuals and we as ‘commercial companies’ within the global transportation industry can support US Transportation Command, the Department of Defense and US national security. Like many of you, I have been fortunate to work for a number of companies while expanding my knowledge of transportation and logistics in ocean transportation, technology, rail and the 3PL world. I joined NDTA in 1991 as a Lifetime Member. At that time, I was overseeing several business units of Sea-Land Service, Inc, including our US flag military and government business. From 2006-2013, I ran Maersk Line, Limited’s liner and RoRo service supporting the military and government business around the world. Today I am honored to be the Vice Chairman of NDTA and Chairman of its Industry Committee.

Prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), our member companies moved goods from depots to depots, depots to ports, ports to ports and air ports to air ports. In WWI and WWII, ocean liners and freighters were drafted to move our forces and their materiel to debarkation points. During the Vietnam War commercial airlines began to move forces to/ from Vietnam and ocean carriers began to move materiel and sustainment cargoes under government bills of lading.

Industry’s role changed dramatically with OIF and OEF. The transportation industry took on greater responsibility and risk during both surge and sustainment operations. Partnering with USTRANSCOM, we leveraged our existing commercial operations in Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Transportation companies now moved our military from “factory to foxhole.” Under the direction of USTRANSCOM, its component commands and the Defense Logistics Agency, NDTA’s transportation members delivered food and materiel to and from the contingency area. We operated in the most disruptive, austere and dangerous environments. We experienced attacks to our transportation network, we lost personnel, lost gateways and created new ones, developed a multi-modal capability and achieved success by any measure.

What does all this mean, you may ask. From my perspective, “industry is the pre-positioned force of the US Military.” Our members provide truck and rail ser vices throughout the contiguous US. Our Jones Act ocean carriers provide service to the domestic offshore markets of Alaska, Hawaii/Guam, and Puerto Rico; and our international ocean and air carriers in the Maritime Security Program (MSP) and Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) enable service to foreign locations in virtually every country or adjacent to every country the US Military may need to be for future contingency operations. Our international companies provide our military with logistics capabilities, port access, trucking, warehousing, customs and inland transportation, and, perhaps most importantly, these companies have relationships with the local governments. Our military is able to take advantage of a global network and infrastructure that augments organic capability of the US Military. Our government cannot duplicate this commercial capability. It is a national treasure we cannot take for granted. It is incumbent upon us all, civilian and military, to ensure that industry partners are commercially viable, thus enabling readiness in this disruptive environment.

At this Fall Meeting between our military, DOD, and commercial leaders we will all learn about the disruptive threats we jointly face. This is a time of volatility and uncertainty for both the DOD and the defense transportation industry. The economy, defense budget cuts, sequestration, turbulent political and social climate, strategic shift to the Pacific, uncertainty of state actors such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, coupled with Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs), cyber attacks, and our own national elections are all potential disruptors to our national security. In every scenario, industry must work closely with each other and with USTRANCOM to develop the best capabilities to thwart these threats.

First and foremost, we need to ensure a foundation of trust with our partners. We do this through communication, collaboration and transparency. We must be active listeners. We must articulate the desired outcome and allow all participants to suggest and create solutions. Above all we need to continually educate our people; provide them the tools and the time to learn: for it is through this learning that we will overcome the disruption we will face.

I like to create to do lists for myself. Here are some to do items that industry and USTRANSCOM may wish to consider, especially as we enjoy a more peaceful period: JPAGs, Turbo Challenge Exercises, streamlining (contract simplification, forecasting, in-transit visibility), and how to ensure operational requirements drive contracts requirements. Now is the time to examine pilot shortages, both military and commercial; best practices for ground operations, safety and security and cyber security.

In addition to creating my to do list, I maintain a very active to read list. I would like to suggest three books that have had an impact on my professional career, and perhaps you too may enjoy: The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and a Epic Quest to Arm an America at War by A. J. Baime; Impact Without Authority by Jane Helsing; and Global Reach – Revolutionizing the Use of Commercial Vessel and Intermodal Systems for Military Sealift, 1990-2012 by VADM A. J. Herberger, USN (Ret.), Kenneth Gaulden, and CDR Rolf Marshall, USN (Ret.).

It is a privilege for NDTA and its members to stand shoulder to shoulder with our men and women in uniform, and to serve them in meeting their logistical needs as they perform their sacred duty for our Nation. God bless them and God bless America. DTJ